Months before ANZAC Day, volunteers across Perth gather with knitting needles and yarn, crafting thousands of handmade poppies that will soon appear in remembrance displays across the city.

The volunteers, known as the RSL WA Poppy Ladies, knit and crochet the symbolic flowers that honour those who served and sacrificed.

Spokesperson Ruth Raspa says the initiative began in 2014 as volunteers started preparing ahead of the centenary commemorations in 2018.

“It began as a Commonwealth effort, bringing together people from Canada, New Zealand, Australia and England to contribute to this major commemorative project,” she says.

“In Perth we made enough poppies to plant for every soldier that died during World War 1.”

Since then the project has continued to grow, with volunteers meeting regularly to knit the iconic red flowers.

Ms Raspa says the poppy-making sessions have created a strong sense of community among those involved, and even for those who walk past.

“We have at least 3 or 4 people a day that stop to look at what we are doing, and want to learn to crochet,” she says.

“Honestly, people want to get involved, and for me, crocheting is a way to relax and clear my mind.

“It gets me out of the house as it can get quite lonely at times, so coming here and being part of the group really helps.”

For volunteer Pam Black, the weekly sessions have become a meaningful part of her routine.

“What I enjoy is coming in once a month, sometimes once a fortnight, to catch up with the women who have done some part of this project and have been doing it for years,” she says.

Ms Black has also involved her granddaughters in the project, bringing a younger generation to the table.

“When 62,000 poppies were planted at Kings Park, I brought my two granddaughters out of school to help,” she says.

“I felt it was an important part of their upbringing to know about the losses in the wars that we had.

“Helping pass that understanding on to them made it really worthwhile.”

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